


Redacted

by arcana_amicus



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Eventual Happy Ending, Horde Prime POV, One Shot, horde prime has lots of clones to hit, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:47:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25576054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcana_amicus/pseuds/arcana_amicus
Summary: History is written by the victors. But who's gonna win in the end?A one shot for the She-Ra discord Cult Wars event. Horde Prime POV overall, with a little Catradora at the end.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Kudos: 11





	Redacted

**Author's Note:**

> Been a while since I rewatched, attempted canon compliance but probably diverged.

Horde Prime arose from a regular maintenance cycle, green tubes falling away and the surrounds falling back to a uniform smoothness. A few things from the defective clone piqued his interest, and he was certain there would be answers found in his million previous lifetimes.

Walking through the Velvet Glove's nameless, featureless corridors, Prime contemplated the actions of the defective clone. Without the clones, the defect's army had been recruited from the diverse local populace. Some had claws, some had tails, some had fur, some had scales, some even had prehensile hair. And such unique grunts, almost inconveniently irreplaceable, necessitated names. 

Diving deeper through the memories, Prime wasn't quite sure why some of those names echoed so loudly in his head. Adora? Just another of the defect's ragtag army, if not for her ability to transform into She-Ra. 

_She-Ra_ ... something resonated in his head. Something that made him quicken his steps. An old whisper not heard in more than a few regenerations.

Finally reaching a room filled with storage pods, he looked over them. These fell from regular switches, previous bodies merely the stepping stones of eternal youth. No, the answers he'd need were further through. 

Regular clones did not walk through this door. They did not need to. Horde Prime does not fall in battle.

Waiting for the door to auto-close and walking swiftly to the end, this previous form was in minimal preservation condition, having been kept since before several upgrades to the storage system and improvements to his own bodily form. Not that any were needed, in Horde Prime's perfection. Prime held up a hand and began reading the fragmented memories.

> This Prime strode forth from a new Horde dropship. Clones and drones had cleared the fortress hours before, and the scars of battle were evident in the landscape. But to Prime, the quiet burning of burnings and soldiers milling on patrol or carrying loot conveyed only victory. Prime noted the distinct lack of Horde losses, with the improved clones. Some civilians remained, closely watched, crying in huddles at their destroyed homes.
> 
> As Prime entered the fortress, an attendant stepped away, taking a call for a missing squad. Another clone swiftly stepped into the entourage to replace the busy attendant. Prime leaned in to inspect one of the packed shipments a little closer, a rare mineral stored in the fortress. A commotion outside took his attention away. Prime turned around to see a squad of walker drones running outside of the fortress. The last drone ducked by the gate and began firing at something - Prime's cue to take cover, as his attendants shouldered their weapons. It only took seconds for a shining blade to slice it in half.
> 
> This Prime fired several blasts from a plasma rifle. Prime took the high ground a few steps away on a fortress wall. The pale hair and white armor flashed across the battlefield, taking down clones left and right. 
> 
> Finally, they met, Prime parrying blade swings with the toughened exterior of the Horde gun. The last strike was easy, a stronger Prime delivering a swift kick to this She-Ra, sending her off the fortress walls. Almost too easy.
> 
> Turning around, Prime looked out upon a few frightened locals, hiding behind smoking ruins. "Your strongest warrior has been defea-"
> 
> Interrupted by a sharp sensation, Prime looked down. A blade stuck out from his chest. Was it always this bright?
> 
> Horde Prime does not fall in battle.  
> 

Prime lifted his hand, wincing slightly from the transferred pain memory. He made a mental note to boost the pain filters slightly in the next memory transfer system update. Did it matter? Maybe it took a while, but that planet still fell, although its protector had clearly been taken elsewhere.

Several past lives later, Prime found one that seemed relevant. This form was preserved with an old, but still much newer system. The degradation of this past form was not from age.

> This Prime sat gloriously, looking across a conquered city, seated elegantly above and behind a row of clones. Across a walkway, a trembling citizen laid tribute in his honour. Other clones milled about, carrying and sorting the items brought.
> 
> The sky flashed bright. Prime arose, but before he could take a step, that flash reached before him, sending tribute and clones alike flying.
> 
> The dust blew away, and She-Ra arose from the crater. She rolled across a fallen clone, snatching its gun just as Prime grabbed another off one of his attendants and ducked behind the throne they had set up.
> 
> From the nearby buildings, a few rebels began firing down on the other clones, the ones still standing returning plasma shots. But this Prime skirted around She-Ra, trading shots. A lucky bright whip tripped him.
> 
> This Prime looked up. Shots burned through his legs and hands, as he struggled to reach for his weapon, just barely to his side.
> 
> The Hivemind would soon forget those blue eyes. Later Primes, however, might not forget the searing light as easily, as She-Ra dropped the stolen rifle, and the whip pulled back into her hand and morphed into a war hammer.
> 
> Horde Prime does not fall in battle.  
> 

Prime looked at the empty weapon slot on his other arm. Although early versions were a little harder to control, the following Prime had seen to it that no rebel would use their weapons against them. At least not handheld ones, anyway.

Moving on to a more recent life, Prime looked over a seemingly intact form, yet its limbs ever so slightly out of place.

> This Prime stood over a subjugated creature. Picking it up between his thumb and index finger, the tiny blue quadruped whined low and wiggled uncomfortably.
> 
> "Hmm. Scan results?" Prime dropped the creature to take a data pad from one of his attendants, as it squeaked and landed on its feet.
> 
> Undoubtedly, this planet was deeply magical. Prime had thrown so much at this planet, but held back on large scale orbital bombardment. A whole planet of magic would be something nice as a trophy, and eventually, a weapon. He was certain he'd succeed where his enemies had failed. Magic was few and far between in this lifetime, lives before having broken the threads between stars. 
> 
> A shattered weave was all that was left, a relic of a bygone past in a superstitious universe before Horde Prime ascended to bring technology to it.
> 
> But now and then every few lives, Prime found where magic still persisted. Not that it stayed for long, if the inhabitants of that world tried to resist. Prime knew just how dangerous magic could be, and crushing magical rebellions tended to be priority.
> 
> Prime's thoughts were interrupted by a magical dart striking through the datapad. The screen shattered as did several clones around him. The critter at his feet was now red, and it lept into his face, covering both eyes.
> 
> Swatting away the creature, the scene had changed to a pitched skirmish. Clones and the magical creatures of the forest traded energy blasts and magic bolts. Prime himself engaged an energy shield and began burning away the bushes that some of the creatures had taken cover behind.
> 
> From a gap in his left flank, one of the creatures broke the defensive line of clones. With a bright crimson halo around a burgundy body and matching indistinct eyes, it lept through and hummed disapprovingly at Prime, while dodging a shot.
> 
> Prime kept up the suppressive fire as the creature danced around its shots. Prime's weapon sparked, its energy running low. Most of the clones had been taken out, as the forest reclaimed magical order.
> 
> Prime fired one last shot. The creature directed a surge of magical energy, deflecting the plasma shot into one of the clones. It headbutted into Prime's chest, smashing him into a rock, and with a tail flick dislocated Prime's gun arm. Prime leaned against a tree with his good arm, attempting to yell at a few scattered clones, but his mouth was smashed in by the creature leaping on him and taking him to the ground.
> 
> This Prime stared into the creature's crimson eyes, and it magically responded with a single, final, thought.
> 
> "Melog? What's a-"
> 
> Horde Prime does not fall in battle.  
> 

Prime stared a little longer. He never quite could set the neck back right, and he wasn't about to let another clone see one of his past lives like this. Not that it mattered, the planet subsequently burnt to a crisp. Horde Prime does not, has not, will not, fall in battle.

The memories of orbital bombardment fresh in his own mind, Prime turned out the lights and stepped out of the chamber, returning to the greater hall, and eventually, back to the corridor. 

His mind heavy with reclaimed memories, he teleported back to his own quarters.

Prime pulled one last chip from a bag and crunched on a snack, dehydrated from an extinct plant. The fleet was prepping for a scheduled warp. Might as well take a nap.

Stepping on to an elevated bed as grand as the dedicated room itself, Prime lies down and closes his many eyes, considering his recent victories in battle, and of rebellions crushed.

* * *

_This place wasn't real. All places that were real should be part of the Horde, or soon would be. What could last against the power of Prime? He couldn't see anything, but he could feel the foreign hostility in his dreamspace._

_Behind him, a familiar light shone. The indomitable magical light of his oldest enemy._

_This She-Ra was not like the others. A unique hair poof. She wasn't even wielding a sword. She-Ra punched him in the gut, and Prime reeled from the dream-impact, turning a little to gaze upon a more subdued light, but one just as familiar to his current life._

_Melog had taken a new form since he last saw them. A distinctly feline form. Unable to move in this new nightmare, Prime takes a second hit, finally knocking him to the ground. Melog growls as She-Ra materialises the Sword from the wisps of dreamspace in blinding light._

_The light fades to shining glow only for Prime to see Melog and the unknown She-Ra rush at him, claw and blade in perfect sync._

_Horde Prime does not fall in battle._

* * *

Horde Prime does wake up.

Alone, he awakes, gazing upon the artifacts lining his quarters, the ceiling adorned with art from a thousand extinct cultures, holding back the endless uniformity of the rest of Prime's flagship.

Horde Prime is not afraid. Horde Prime does not wonder if this world will be his last. Horde Prime does not question if abandoned seeds of magic or a girl with a sword are a match for his empire.

And Horde Prime definitely does not erase a nightmare before reconnecting to the hivemind.

* * *

_Several weeks later_

"You should see this." one of Prime's attendants said. Switching the main projection screen to an Etherian spy drone feed confirmed his suspicions - there was no mistaking the sleeping forms of his oldest and newest undefeated enemies.

If his attendants were less focused on the feed, they might have noticed Prime's reaction, as he tightened his fists, pressing a finger sharply into his palm.

He was definitely awake.

* * *

Catra blinked awake. Was that the sound of an incoming Horde patrol? Sleep was becoming a relative luxury, but one the Best Friends Squad often sorely needed. 

For a brief moment, Catra flashed back to the memories that Prime tried so hard to wipe away. Memories of hers, memories of Primes now and Primes past. Memories that led to them, she thought, staring sleepily at a similarly sleepy Melog, watching its body move ever so slightly with each breath.

Looking a little further at the also sleeping Adora, snoring against said sleepy Melog, Catra smiled a little to herself and subconsciously reached out a little. For all of his conquests, Prime was still bad at learning one thing. Just a little something Catra was still glad for.

**Love can't be redacted.**

**Author's Note:**

> Comes with fanart for the same event! See 
> 
> https://arcana-amicus.tumblr.com/post/624915402594697216/and-another-thing-for-the-same-fanfic
> 
> for Prime's nightmare and 
> 
> https://arcana-amicus.tumblr.com/post/624915291430928386/just-a-little-thing-for-a-short-event-fanfic 
> 
> for snoozing Adora and Melog.


End file.
